CoreLogic has released its monthly Loan Performance Insights Report for July 2023, revealing delinquency and foreclosure activity (first liens only against a property).
For July, 2.7% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), representing a 0.3 percentage point decrease compared with 3% in July 2022 and a 0.1% increase from June 2023.
To gain a complete view of the mortgage market and loan performance health, CoreLogic examines all stages of delinquency. In July, the U.S. delinquency and transition rates and their year-over-year changes, were as follows:
- Early-Stage Delinquencies (30 to 59 days past due): 1.3%, unchanged from July 2022.
- Adverse Delinquency (60 to 89 days past due): 0.4%, unchanged from July 2022.
- Serious Delinquency (90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure): 1%, down from 1.3% in July 2022 and a high of 4.3% in August 2020.
- Foreclosure Inventory Rate (share of mortgages in some stage of foreclosure): 0.3%, unchanged from July 2022.
- Transition Rate (share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due): 0.7%, unchanged from July 2022.
U.S. mortgage performance held strong in July, with both overall delinquency and foreclosure rates still hovering near record lows. Only Idaho saw overall delinquencies rise year over year, but rates in that state remain very low.
Meanwhile 16 metro areas posted slight annual delinquency upticks, a drop from the previous month, when 31 metros posted increases. With hurricane season in full swing in the late summer and early fall, some areas of the U.S. could see typical seasonal delinquencies rise later this year and into 2024.
“Since most borrowers have substantial amounts of home equity, those who have locked in low mortgage rates that do enter later stages of delinquency will most likely not experience foreclosures,” says Molly Boesel, principal economist for CoreLogic.
“And while home equity gains have slowed from their former rapid pace, CoreLogic projects that home price growth will pick up over the next year,” Boesel continues. “Borrowers should continue to build equity over the coming months, even if at a more moderate rate.”
Other state and metro specifics:
- Overall delinquency rates were unchanged year over year in Arizona and Utah. The remaining states’ annual delinquency rates declined between 0.9 and 0.1 percentage points.
- In July, 16 U.S. metro areas posted an increase in overall year-over-year delinquency rates. The two metros with the largest increases were Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., and Punta Gorda, Fla., (both up by 0.5 percentage points).
- In July, two U.S. metro areas (both in Florida) posted an increase in serious delinquency rates (90 days or more late), while changes in other metros ranged from -1.5 percentage points to 0.0 percentage points. The metros that posted annual serious delinquency increases were Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Punta Gorda (both up by 0.4 percentage points).
